Two years of the Hannah Arendt Initiative: Protecting journalists in crisis regions and in exile

Two years after the Hannah Arendt Initiative was launched by the German Federal Government, there is now no less cause for concern – in fact there is more. The latest World Press Freedom Index drawn up by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows that conditions for media professionals have worsened worldwide. In 2024, there are more countries – 36 in number – in the bottom category (where the situation is classed as ‘very serious’) than there have been in over a decade. Journalists from a number of the countries in this category, including Russia, Afghanistan and Sudan, are supported by several projects run by Hannah Arendt Initiative’s partner organisations.

Thanks to the Hannah Arendt Initiative – a protection programme which is funded by the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) – media workers can receive many different kinds of help, either in their home country or in exile. Sometimes help is even possible where at first glance it seems impossible. For example, a project under the Initiative supports female journalists in Afghanistan: they receive safety training, scholarships and native-language mentoring. A particularly large number of women in the media have lost their jobs since the Taliban took power in 2021, which means there are now hardly any women left working in radio or television. Since that time, the whole sector has contracted sharply.

Russian and Sudanese media professionals can benefit from the Hannah Arendt Initiative in neighbouring countries. Special centres have been set up to serve as contact points for exiled media workers, run or supported by partners of the Initiative. The Exile Media Hubs and the Casa para el Periodismo Libre (a space for exiled journalists) in Central America also constitute safe spaces that offer psychological and legal advice. The hubs are likewise places that provide further training and are a starting point for networking among media professionals who are persecuted in their home countries for various reasons.

Calls for justice: After the body of a journalist was discovered in the city of Tepic, Mexico, in June 2023, protesters displayed posters with pictures of murdered media workers in the country. Mexico is one of the deadliest countries for journalists in the world

Rebuilding sustainable editorial structures in exile is another approach followed under the Hannah Arendt Initiative. This is about ensuring that people in the journalists‘ totalitarian home countries continue to receive independent information.

Afghanistan, Russia and Sudan are not the only countries where journalists who receive support come from. The Initiative’s scope is essentially worldwide and can respond flexibly to worsening security situations. At present, support is mainly being provided to media professionals from Belarus, Central America, Myanmar, North Africa and Ukraine. In this respect, Ukraine is a special case, as the aim of the project work there is to guarantee continued reporting in the ongoing war. This requires material and technical assistance, as well as specific training and insurance for frontline operations.

The following four civil society organisations are partners within the Hannah Arendt Initiative: DW Akademie, European Fund for Journalism in Exile (JX-Fund), Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT), and the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF). The programme is subject to requirements of independence from state control and of state neutrality. Funding is granted solely on the basis of unbiased criteria, by independent juries free of state influence.

The Hannah Arendt Initiative is a network for the protection of media professionals and media outlets from crisis regions. It was set up in 2022 with funding from the German Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).

Note: This article has first been published in the European Economic and Social Committee’s newsletter EESC info October 2024 and has been adapted.